United Nations Development Programme

20 African countries to accelerate climate adaptation

15 Nov 2010

Dakar – Climate adaptation teams from all 20 countries participating in the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) will meet in Dakar next week (22-25 November) to step up efforts to make their countries more resilient to climate change.

Higher temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, more frequent and severe storms, less weather predictability, the influx of new pests and disease and rising sea levels are among the effects of climate change that threaten to derail development on the world’s poorest and most climate-vulnerable continent.

The week-long meeting will present the first opportunity for all 20 teams to share their experiences in climate adaptation, identify lessons learned, build on each other’s successes and agree on priorities for the AAP workplan for 2011 that will close knowledge gaps, build capacity and accelerate the transformation of their countries from climate vulnerability to climate resilience.

The AAP, a flagship programme of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with UNIDO, UNICEF and WFP, is helping 20 countries in Africa develop their capacity to design and implement holistic climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction programmes that are aligned with their national development priorities. It was launched in December 2008 under the Japan-UNDP Joint Framework for Building Partnership to Address Climate Change in Africa with funding of US$92 million from the government of Japan.